Who are Katkari Tribe?

• Katkaris were historically forest dwellers.
• They are located primarily in Maharashtra and in some places of Gujarat.
• They are one of the 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups, as per the classification by the Ministry of Home Affairs. 

About PVTGs

• In India, tribal population makes up for 8.6% of the total population.
• Tribal people live in about 15% of the geographical area of the country.
• Tribal communities are often identified by some specific signs such as primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness to contact with the community at large and backwardness.
• Along with these, some tribal groups have some specific features such as dependency on hunting, gathering for food, having pre-agriculture level of technology, zero or negative growth of population and extremely low level of literacy. These groups are called Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups.
• The criteria followed for determination of PVTGs are:

1. 1. 1. 1. A pre-agriculture level of technology;
         2. A stagnant or declining population;
         3. Extremely low literacy; and
         4. A subsistence level of economy.

Livelihood

• PVTGs depend on various livelihoods such as food gathering, Non Timber Forest Produce (NTFP), hunting, livestock rearing, shifting cultivation and artisan works.
• Most of their livelihoods depend on the forest. They collect various NTFP items such as honey, gum, amla, bamboo, shrubs, fuel wood,dry leaves, nuts, sprouts, wax, medical plants,roots and tubes. Most of the NTFP items they gather are for consumption and they sell the remaining to middle men.

Why in News?

• Many youths from the community are being benefited from Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana (PMVDY) .